Fire escape ladder



July 4, 1961 .J. F. WOZNIAK 2,990,908

FIRE ESCAPE LADDER Filed July 13, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 j v l I -u |4- I 1 24 i l 1 n IO L u I 29 F as 22\ 29 3' h 3| r I I? w I M} v H +1 km 20 l5 \1 {Fl :.1

5 INVENTOR.

JOHN F. WOZNIAK ATTORNEYS July 4, 1961 J. F. WOZNIAK FIRE ESCAPE LADDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 13, 1959 INVENTOR.

JOHN F. WOZNIAK MW 4 @0379 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,990,908 FIRE ESCAPE LADDER John F. Wozniak, 8507 Pierson, Detroit, Mich. Filed July 13, 1959, Ser. No. 826,771 1 Claim. ((11. 182-70) This invention relates to a fire escape ladder and more particularly to a ladder formed as a unit wherein a flexible ladder is permanently stored and secured within a box, which box may be placed at any convenient window opening and then rigidly secured adjacent the opening so that the ladder may be pulled out and used when needed.

As is well known, fire escape ladders are rarely used for two story buildings and very infrequently used for three story buildings- The chief obstacles to the use of such fire escape ladders have been their cost, and the storage problem, particularly in the ordinary dwelling house.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to form a fire escape ladder which is extremely inexpensive, which is self-storing, and which is formed in a pleasing appearing storage container that may be permanently and rigidly fastened to a floor adjacent any window opening within the dwelling house so that the ladder may be available and used when necessary.

A further object of this invention is to form a ladder with a storage container wherein the ladder is permanently connected within the container to the base of the container, and the base of the container is in turn secured to a floor whereby the unit may be easily screwed down to any floor and be immediately ready for use without the need for any special fastening means or any special provision for connecting and holding the ladder in place.

Another object of this invention is to form a ladder with a storage container formed with a pleasing appearance and available for use as a storage shelf or window seat and wherein any objects placed upon its top may be removed immediately by simply swinging open the top of the box so that the ladder is instantly available for use.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description of which the attached drawings form a part.

Referring to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the ladder storage container or box, with dotted lines showing the cover being swung open.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the box, similar to that shown in FIG. 2, and showing the box positioned within and secured to the floor of a dwelling home with the house wall and floor and window being shown schematically.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the storage container secured to a floor adjacent a window.

FIG. 6 is a view of part of the flexible ladder, per se.

The ladder unit herein is generally designated as 10. With reference to FIGS. 1-3, the unit consists of a container or box 11 formed of a front wall, rear wall and two sides, with the depth of the box being considerably less than the height and width of the box. The top of the box is open and closed by means of a cover 12 which is hingedly connected by means of a suitable hinge, such as a piano type hinge 13, to one of the sides 14. Thus, the cover can be swung out of the way by lifting it up at its free end and moving it in the direction of the side 14.

The bottom of the box is formed of a channel which is a U-shaped, inverted channel 15 whose base 16 forms the bottom of the box and whose depending flanges 17 form legs for resting the box on a floor. The bottom edges of the various walls of the box may be welded or otherwise secured to the base. The channel is preferably of a width substantially equal to the depth of the box so that it does not extend beyond the front or rear of the box. However, the ends of the channel are extended beyond the 1 sides of the box so that these exposed extensions 18 are available for securing the box to the floor. These extensions are provided with apertures 19 and the ends of the channel may be closed by means of suitable flanges 20.

Inside the box are rigid loops 22 which may be in the form of eyes or hooks or the like which are rigidly secured to the base 16 of the channel 15 by means of welding or by nuts engaging a threaded part of each of the loops.

A flexible ladder 24 (shown schematically in FIGS. 2 and 3) is stored within the box. As shown in FIG. 6, the ladder is preferably formed of flexible side members 25, which may be of rope, and rungs 26 which may be of wood strips having drilled openings 27 at their ends through which the rope 25 may pass. The rope is knotted at 28 above and below each rung so as to hold the rungs in position and spaced apart from one another. At one end of the ladder, each of the side members are provided with hook means 29 for engaging the loops 22. The hook means may be of any conventional hook formation and once connected, remain permanently engaged with the loops 22.

The ladder unit 10 is a self contained complete ladder and storage container. It may be sold and shipped in the form described above. In use, the unit is secured to the floor 30 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) of a dwelling house by means of screws 31 or similar type fastening means which pass through the openings 19 in the extensions of the base 18.

Ordinarily, the unit would be positioned beneath a window opening 32 in a house wall 33. Being fastened to the floor closely adjacent to the wall 33, the unit is out of the way and presents a pleasing appearance and does not detract from the appearance of the room.

When needed, such as when a fire occurs, the window is opened quickly and the top cover 12 of the box is swung open so as to expose the ladder stored within the box. Then the ladder is grasped and withdrawn from the box and thrown out the window opening as shown in FIG. 4. One end of the ladder is permanently secured within the box because of the hook means 29 engaging the loops 22. Hence, the ladder is immediately available to be used by a person climbing out the window.

Where desired, an eye or hook 35 may be secured at the ground level of the house either in the ground or to the wall and an additional hook 36 may be secured to each of the free ends of the ladder so that the first person climbing down the ladder may secure the hook and eye together to thereby rigidity the ladder and prevent it from shaking when the next person comes down the ladder.

By way of example, to better illustrate the relationship of parts, a commercial model which I have constructed was formed of a sheet metal box whose bottom edges are Welded to the channel base. The box, exclusive of the channel, was approximately 23 inches high and approximately 16 inches wide and its depth was approximately 4 inches. The ladder was roughly 15 inches wide.

The top of the box may be used as a storage shelf or window seat. When it is desired to reach the ladder, simply by swinging the cover around its hinge, all objects placed thereon will be swept off to the floor rapidly to thus clear the top of the box.

Where the homeowner wishes to remove the box for the purpose of painting the walls of the house or to place the box in a different location, he needs only unscrew the screws 31, which are exposed to View, and

move the box to the next location and then screw the box back in place again and it is ready to be used once again.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following attached claim. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of an operative embodiment of this invention and not in a strictly limiting sense.

I claim:

A fire escape ladder comprising an open top box having a front panel, a rear panel and two side panels, the panels being of sheet metal, with the height and width of the box being considerably greater than the depth thereof, and being at least twice the depth dimension, a cover covering the top of the box and hingedly connected to the top edge of one of said side panels, the cover being openable by swinging it towards the direction of the side to which it is hinged; the bottom of the box being formed of an elongated, uniform cross-section, rigid, U-shaped, inverted channel to which the bot-tom edges of the box panels are permanently secured, with the base of the channel forming the bottom floor of the box and the depending flanges of the channel forming legs to rest upon a floor, the width of the channel being substantially equal to the depth of the box so that the channel legs are coplanar with the front and rear panels of the box and the opposite ends of the channel each extending a short distance beyond the opposite side panels of the box, with the exposed base portions at the ends of the channel each being provided with vertically arranged openings through which mechanical fastening means may be inserted to secure the base to a house floor adjacent a window opening with the top of the box being closed adjacent to the bottom of the window opening; a flexible ladder contained within the box, the ladder consisting of a pair of flexible side members and spaced rungs extending between them and secured to the side members; a pair of spaced-apart, rigid loops rigidly secured to the channel base and extending upwardly therefrom Within the box and each of the ladder side members at one end of the ladder being permanently connected to one of said loops, whereby the ladder is normally folded and stored within the box, but when needed, the cover of the box may be swung sideways out of the way and the ladder pulled out of the box and thrown out the adjacent window opening with said one end of the ladder secured within the box to the channel, so that a person may then climb down the ladder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Fauser Sept. 11, 1951 

